Fixer Upper Part 2

I was able to get a new cast resin roof from the Hobby Gallery and I painted it using craft paint and then weathered it with pan pastels.  I repainted the brick on the tower box car red, the wood trim, widows and doors Pullman green and the cement weathered concrete.  I painted the interior a dark gray to town it down from the white.  For mortar I uses DAP fast and final spackle.  I heard about using this on the Mike and Scotty Pod cast.  I have a bit of touch up to do, add a some details and build the exterior stair case.  New kits are still available from the Hobby Gallery.

Bridging the Gap

I need to pick up  new roof for my tower as the current one is missing a big chunk out of  corner.  Steve from Hobby Gallery will have one at the Springfield show, so I do not have to wait long.  In the mean time, I have constructed a Rix concrete overpass to continue the road on the upper area of Norwich If that area looks familiar, it is John Pryke's South Boston from the large layout he had in Acton MA. I built the bridge bet the instructions and the base coat of paint is Krylon Camo Khaki.  It still needs to be permanently placed and weathered.  I still have more work to do in the area, so I will wait to permanently place it.

Out of the Paint Shop

Know that I have a dedicated painting spot, I find it very easy to go down to the basement and paint. With out having to set up and tear down an area I can paint very quickly and be done.  Here are a few of my on going projects.

This shows the RS-11 with the modified cab window and fuel tank. I added the train
control box, extended the elevated walkway and added the steam generator details.

This photo shows the steam generator parts better.

This is a Walthers caboose from years ago, not 100% accurate for the PC or Conrail, but a decent stand-in.
I dd not make any changes to the model other than pant.

Here is the Conrail N8A showing the new bay window and the other windows filled.

Here is the RS-3m

Here is the Amtrak RS-3.  It is a former NH unit and still has the train control box.

You can see the roof vent and antenna on the cab as well as the old steam generator vent.

My friend Paul will be happy to see that his locomotives are finally painted!

Masking Monday

I finally was able to spray the Red/Orange on the FA's for my friend and have now have masked them for the black paint.  I use Frog brand masking tape and it seems to work well.

Simple fixes

A friend asked me to paint some FA's for him.  He wants the models in the New Haven's Albert (or Trustee) paint scheme, it is the simplest cab unit paint scheme the New Haven used, only red/orange and black paints are needed, no long stripes or crazy three color geometric shapes.  The models are Walthers' train line FA's.  They are originally from Train Miniature that Walthers bought back in the late 1980's.  The shells are very much a 1980's (or earlier) style model with molded on grab irons and such, but the dimensions are close and have a nice look to them.  

The one issue I have with them, particularly when painting the Alpert scheme, is the placement of the number boards, they are too low on the nose of the model.  The Albert scheme queues off of the number boards and the low placement causes the red to be too low on the nose and the red that goes up and around the headlight casting to be elongated.  Here is comparison of the Walthers Trainline with a Proto 2000 model.

The Trainline model on the left, a Proto 2000 model on the right.

The good news is the number boards are separate parts (one  the very few on these models), so moving them is very simple.  Each board has a pin, on on the front edge that holds it to the shell.  I use a new, sharp #11 x-acto blade and cut the pin and pry the number board off.  Leaving the pin in the shell helps fill the hole.  I use a sand down the area to remove any traces of glue and use some body putty to fill any low spots.  I then glue the number board to the correct higher location.

Here is the shell with the corrected number board.

The fix is quicker then reading this post.  I would not recommend it for painted models, but i you are going to paint one, make the fix.  I you are just starting out on upgrading and painting models, it is a nice little project that can truly make the finished paint job look much better.

Paint and Weathering Work Station

I have cleaned off the an old desk that is under the north end staging yard.  I have set up my portable spray both and a 5000 kelvin light for painting and weathering.  I can fold up the spray both and have more room to hand apply pastels and artist oils for weathering.  It is nice to have a separate space from the regular workbench to do this kind of work.  I hope this will mean I will get more projects painted in a timely manner!

Spraybooth, airbrush and good lighting.